Life-saving waistcoat.



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LIFE SAVING WAISTCOAT.

APPLICATION TIL E0 FEB. 5. I915.

Patented June'2'2, 1915.

, Waste? I JAMES WATSON GIEVE, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO GIEVE,

SEAGBOVE LIMITED, 01 PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND.

LIFE-SAVING WAISTCOAT.

Specification of Letters latcnt.

Patented June 22, 1915.

Application filed February 5, 1915. Serial No. 8,369.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JAMES WATSON Gmvn, asubject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 65 South Moltonstreet, in the county of London, England, have invent new and usefulImprovements in and Relating to Life-Saving Vaistcoats, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lifesaving garment.

My invention is designed to provide a lifesaving garment of serge orother suitable material for use as an ordinary seamans waistcoat undernormal circumstances, but a portion of said waistcoat being capable ofbeing blown out into an air ring under the arms of the wearer to form alife-saving jacket, in moments of emergency.

My invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a front view of the Waistcoat. Fig. 2 shows a back view.Fig. 3 shows a front view with the air ring expanded, and Fig. 4 showsan enlarged view of the waistcoat opened out in aflat position.

Referring now to the drawings, I provide an extra piece of material 1,of which the waistcoat 2 is made, sewn or otherwise attached to thewaistcoat in a suitable position under the arms as shown in thedrawings. The said extra piece of material 1 extends completely aroundthe waistcoat in approximatelv the same horizontal plane. The said pieceof material 1 is ada ted to form a cover for a rubber tube 3 siiown inFig. 4, adapted when blown out to conform to the same form as said pieceof material 1, so that when said tube is expanded, a hoo shaped bladderentirely surrounding t e person wearing the waistcoat is formed as shownin Fig. 3, in that position of the body in which it is most desirable tosupport the seaman in a position in which he 1s upright in the water orpreferably with the upper portion of his body and head thrown backward.The mouthpiece 4 of said tube 3 is provided with a valve 5 enabling thewearer of the waistcoat to blow up the tube at any desired momentwithout difficulty. Hook and press fasteners are provided whereby theextra piece of material contain' ing the tube lies in a flat positionagainst the waistcoat under ordinary circumstances as shown in Figs. 1and 2.

In order to insure that the head of the wearer is thown backward so thatthe wearers mouth is clear of the water even in heavy weather, I preferto arrange the tube 3 in such proportions that its larger portionextends around the chest of the wearer.

What I claim is 1. A life-saving garment in the form of a waistcoatcomprising an extra piece of material surroundin and attached to thewaistcoat under t e arm holes, fastenings adapted to connect the ends ofsaid piece of material, an air tube inclosed in said extra piece ofmaterial, an inflating tube projecting from said air tube through apocket of the waistcoat and a valve at the free end of said inflatingtube.

2. A life-saving garment in the form of a waistcoat comprising an extraiece of material surrounding and attac ed to the waistcoat under the armholes, an air tube inclosed in said extra piece of material, soproportioned that its larger portion extends around the front of thewaistcoat, fastenings for connecting the ends of said iece of material,an inflating tube pro ecting through said tube through a pocket 0 thewaistcoat and a valve at the free end of said inflating tu In testimonywhereof I have signed my name to this ification in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses JAMES WATSON GIEVE.

VIVIAN I HINGE Nnwme'ron. R10 JULIAN COLEMAN.

MATTHEWS &

